1. |
Transport
05:01
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I wrote you a letter it took me five days to read it with minimal anguish
The origin of my frustration lay in the inadequacy of the language
I wrote a long list of the main points to cover and made sure the meaning was candid
But after a second revision I realised the words of all substance were famished
This week I’m dragging my feet to a rhythm that’s clumsy and incomplete
My memory’s with you in the morning
Shooting sharpened arrows without warning
I buttoned my shirt up and I tightened my tie and I crawled my way out the door
It was a curious feeling to go through the motions without any purpose at all
I wrote a short message from desperation to see your feet on the floor
The speed of the separation left me confused and wanting more
You spent a long time gripping the rails
This week I’m dragging my feet to a rhythm that’s clumsy and incomplete
My memory’s with you in the morning
Shooting sharpened arrows without warning
This year new hopes and new fears bring about a sense of the obsolete
In a long-winded way it’s a holiday
I’m huffing and puffing and waiting and stalling
You spent a long time slipping away
Through shifting weather and frequent acquaintance we keep from spinning round
But I fear the strings I hold will render you in my lost and found
We had a good time and we’ll have it again but who knows for how long
So when you get home don’t forget to write me a song
I wrote you a letter it took me a week to delete it and start anew
Careless and unbound I’m coming round
I’m coming round
This week I’m dragging my feet to a rhythm that’s clumsy and incomplete
My memory’s with you in the morning
Shooting sharpened arrows without warning
This time it all will be fine if our heads are screwed on and our tongues are on fire
I’ll find you in text enraptured and maybe we’ll open the covers and move a little faster
Maybe we’ll open the covers and move a little faster
This week I’m dragging my feet to a rhythm that’s clumsy and incomplete
My memory’s with you in the morning
Shooting sharpened arrows without warning
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2. |
A Sharp Overhand
04:16
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You don’t have to worry about a thing
There’s high hopes in our sights
The day’s just begun and we’re in and out of sleep
And blinded by the light
I wasted my Saturday on thinking too much
You waited for my call
The days are unnumbered which adds to the fuss
And I miss it more and more
It’s hard to define between rain or shine
So I spend every morning repeating a rhyme
Back inside I shout at the walls
At this point I’m three inches tall
Don’t answer the door it might be our final call for the night
You’ll find that your interests only go so far
You gear up and burn out
It needs to be balanced with working the floor
To sweat out all your doubts
Through intimate acquaintance with generous folk
Your worries slip away
If there’s someone who makes you confused or upset
Just don’t see them everyday
I have a hazy memory of having my hands tied
But not in a good way
Back inside I shout at the walls
At this point I’m three inches tall
Don’t answer the door it might be our final call for the night
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3. |
Ten's Company
04:44
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Out of the woods after a couple of weeks
Performing in your sleep
The nights are long and you’re ungrateful
We’ve got room at the inn for one more
Two if you don’t mind being on all fours
Sweat drips from all floors
It’s an age old situation
In unavoidable frustration
You were forced to drop bombs on this wasteland where I lie
There’s a trail of guilt between our legs we’re poised to recognise
In the time you spent in my back yard we were bound to collide
So I’ll try my best to regulate our six strings aside
It’s safe to say that I’ll be at the bottom of the pile
Share a joke for a minute or two
I’ve had enough to smile true
Is this good enough for you?
And since we’re getting close to the end
And we’re losing all our friends
It’s high time for a shake and a bend
It’s an age old situation
In unavoidable frustration
You were forced to drop bombs on this wasteland where I lie
We marvel at the origins of apathy and fire
I’d rather be called a cynic than a cheater or a liar
We’ll battle through the wilderness connected by a wire
Yet all the while our heads are in the clouds or maybe higher
Share a joke for a minute or two
I’ve had enough to smile true
Is this good enough for you?
There’s a trail of guilt between our legs we’re poised to recognise
In the time you spent in my back yard we were bound to collide
So I’ll try my best to regulate our six strings aside
It’s safe to say that I’ll be at the bottom of the pile
We marvel at the origins of apathy and fire
I’d rather be called a cynic than a cheater or a liar
We’ll battle through the wilderness connected by a wire
Yet all the while our heads are in the clouds or maybe higher
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4. |
Ecstatic
04:41
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Is that all you have to say
Before we go inside and play
I can’t believe it’s come to this
Go forth my son you’re shaking
Time to give it a twist
Did you know
I was racing around while you wanted to take it slow
I found all my strength from the lights in the room
Like heat from fire in the increasing gloom
Comforting to say the least
But not without uncertainties
Now I’m burning a hole inside
Out of sorts but beaming a smile
The way that the words roll off of your fingers is leaving me tongue tied
What would my family say
If they knew I spend the evenings this way
And what some of my best friends wouldn’t give
To be here with me
Though they may say it’s a trick
Did you know
I was racing around while you wanted to take it slow
I found all my strength from the lights in the room
Like heat from fire in the increasing gloom
Comforting to say the least
But not without uncertainties
Now I’m burning a hole inside
Out of sorts but beaming a smile
The way that the words roll off of your fingers is leaving me tongue tied
Did you see
I was on top of the tallest tree
Could it be
That everyone here is just like me
I found all my strength from the lights in the room
Like heat from fire in the increasing gloom
Comforting to say the least
But not without uncertainties
Now I’m burning a hole inside
Out of sorts but beaming a smile
The way that the words roll off of your fingers is leaving me tongue tied
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5. |
The Island Life
05:08
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If I could think of ten ways to
Be in control in control of you
I’d frame and hang them on my wall
Recite it every break of dawn
A plan to keep from losing my head
Erase everything that you said
A plan for all the times that I’ve
Run away from by your side
By your side
And everyone I know is doing their own thing
It seems impossible to break out of these bad habits that I’m in
The song goes out of time in the irrepressible din
I’d like to retrace my steps back to the point where routine wasn’t wearing thin
She came in one day after a shift
And said she’d realised a strange motif
Whatever goals she’d had in the past
She’d always achieved them at the last
I said, “You know I disagree
I’m more the type to fend off bees”
But maybe it’s just point of view
That keeps some of us feeling blue
And I guess it’s true
That everyone I know is doing their own thing
It seems impossible to break out of these bad habits that I’m in
The song goes out of time in the irrepressible din
I’d like to retrace my steps back to the point where routine wasn’t wearing thin
If I could think of ten ways to
Be in control in control of you
I’d frame and hang them on my wall
Recite it every break of dawn
If I could think of ten ways to
Be in control in control of you
Then I’d have no troubles at all
But I guess that’s not the point of it all
If I could think of ten ways to
Work and play and speak the truth
Then I’d have no troubles at all
But I guess that’s not the point of it all
The point of it all
And everyone I know is doing their own thing
It seems impossible to break out of these bad habits that I’m in
The song goes out of time in the irrepressible din
I’d like to retrace my steps back to the point where routine wasn’t wearing thin
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6. |
Minister of Scheming
05:32
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I woke up sweating in a suitcase in the middle of the floor
Having spent half the night in the midst of verbal war
I picked apart the pieces of the evening tried to figure it all out
Which involved sixteen false daydreams then slowly passing out
There’s no way to keep your head out of the fire
Sporadic Sunday evening drinking keeps it simmering awhile
If only to stare at your reflection for some time
Stay in tonight
When will we lay it to rest
I’ve been slowly drinking until I can’t feel above my waist
Break through and I’ll make the last train
But our lips they move much faster when we’ve got something to gain
She went out cursing up a rumour in the middle of the bar
Which involved half the crowd and half the month of March
On the border between seasons thought she’d go the other way
As usual playing the victimised and leading us astray
There’s no way to do all you intended in a day
And what is more I made a deal with a healer way back who didn’t see it my way
So if only to stare at your reflection for a while
Avoid her gaze tonight
When will we lay it to rest
I’ve been slowly drinking until I can’t feel above my waist
Break through and I’ll make the last train
But our lips they move much faster when we’ve got something to gain
If there’s a way to keep your head free of fear
Then we’re alone together in the city so draw me close I wanna hear
Tonight stay in and avoid her gaze
And I’ll see you when the hills are concave
When will we lay it to rest
I’ve been slowly drinking until I can’t feel above my waist
Break through and I’ll make the last train
But our lips they move much faster when we’ve got something to gain
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7. |
Close the Lights
05:31
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I want everyone to stand up
And tell me why did you come here tonight
I can hazard a guess at one of three reasons for
Enjoying the lights
I asked this question the day she called me
And said, “I’m on my way to your house”
Fresh off the train she put me to shame
But only made clear intentions to herself
So now we both wear frowns
I’ve been feeling somewhat down
For reasons I won’t go into now
She’s here listening to me sing like a clown
Feel free to stay past the point when my eyelids shut down
Just close the lights on your way out
It was easy enough the first time
Speaking on neutral ground
Kind of out of practice but going for a hat trick I
Laid my weapons down
It was the same when we behind closed doors
Though I was a little unkind
But why would someone stay so late in a place
Which should be at the back of their mind
So now we both wear frowns
I’ve been feeling somewhat down
For reasons I won’t go into now
She’s here listening to me sing like a clown
Feel free to stay past the point when my eyelids shut down
Just close the lights on your way out
I’ve been going into town
Hoping to ignore the strain of the messaging system she’s found
Feel free to stay past the point where my patience runs out
Just close the lights on your way out
The next day it suddenly hit me
What she’d been waiting for
The next time my friends should come with me
To point out the potholes and flaws
So now I wear a frown
I’ve been feeling somewhat down
There’s reasons I won’t go into now
She’s here listening to me sing like a clown
Feel free to stay past the point when my eyelids shut down
Just close the lights on your way out
I’ve been going into town
Hoping to ignore the strain of the messaging system she’s found
Feel free to stay past the point where my patience runs out
Just close the lights on your way out
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8. |
Story After Storey
06:35
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An explosion goes off in your head
And all your co-workers wind up dead
So for half an hour you sit at your desk
And survey the scene for a living breath
You always come here at the same time
And you always know what’s best
I would have thought by now you’d have escaped somehow
Before your heartbeat gets put to rest
Now let me rest
In a flash of light I was mesmerised by the colours in the sky
A sight to behold was my office space transformed in the blink of an eye
Someone’s been here
They must have escaped while I was fixing my tie
But I feel no pain no panic it’s just another morning spent on fire
Boring
Boring from the extreme
Story after storey
And dream after old dream
It’s hard to admit that you’re feeling scared when you always know what’s best
I would have thought by now you’d have escaped somehow
Before your heartbeat gets put to rest
Now let me rest
I walk through the streets in a haze of black and I contemplate the fear
It’s strange that they gave me the afternoon off when I’ve still got my eyes and my ears
No one’s safe here
The billowing smoke
The oceans of blood and tears
These are the sights and the sounds of the city I live in
I’ll still be here next year
Boring
Boring from the extreme
Story after storey
And dream after old dream
It’s hard to admit that you’re feeling scared when you always know what’s best
I would have thought by now you’d have escaped somehow
Before your heartbeat gets put to rest
Now let me rest
For goodness sake
Start using your brain
Have you nothing to say while your world is ablaze
I’m whistling a song
And nothing is wrong
I’m looking good and feeling strong
Look to the sky
And ask yourself why
It’s minus the outline you saw as a child
At the end of the day
Have you nothing to say
The colours shift and fade to grey
The colours shift and fade to grey
Boring
Boring from the extreme
Story after storey
And dream after old dream
It’s hard to admit that you’re feeling scared when you always know what’s best
I would have thought by now you’d have escaped somehow
Before your heartbeat gets put to rest
Now let me rest
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